Tigers

Hellickson Wins 5th Game In June, Rays Beat Tigers

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – JUNE 30: Homeplate umpire Vic Carapazza #85 gives pitcher Rick Porcello #21 of the Detroit Tigers a ball as he glares at Ben Zobrist #18 of the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning at Tropicana Field on June 30, 2013 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jeremy Hellickson earned his fifth June win and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1 Sunday in a game that included an early warning by the umpires.

Hellickson (7-3) allowed one run over six-plus innings. He tied the team record for victories in one month held by Matt Moore, David Price and Scott Kazmir.

Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 17th save.

Miguel Cabrera hit his 25th homer this season for the Tigers, sending a shot into a fish tank beyond the wall.

Both benches were warned by plate umpire Vic Carapazza after Detroit’s Rick Porcello (4-6) hit Ben Zobrist with a pitch in the first. Both dugouts stayed calm and nothing further developed.

A day earlier, Cabrera yelled at the Tampa Bay dugout after he struck out in the 10th inning. Rodney had thrown a high-and-tight fastball before fanning the Tigers star.

Zobrist walked to first base after being struck with two outs and no one on base.

Porcello stumbled while in his delivery when facing Zobrist in the third and threw a pitch that landed well in front of the plate. Porcello went six innings, allowing three runs and eight hits.

Before Sunday’s game, Detroit manager Jim Leyland said “that’s history” when asked about the Cabrera incident. After Saturday’s game, however, Leyland said: “Throwing in that area is not acceptable, and somebody pays the price for that throughout baseball. That’s just the way baseball is.”

Cabrera, booed before each of his at-bats, tied it at 1 with a fourth-inning homer that gave him a 15-game hitting streak. His drive was the second — joining Luis Gonzalez’s shot in 2007 — to go into the fish tank just to the right of center field that is home to a group of cownose rays.

James Loney extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double in the second and scored on a single by Jose Lobaton to put the Rays up 1-0.

Lobaton who drove in another run with a single during a two-run fourth that made it 3-1. Yunel Escobar had a bases-loaded walk in the inning.

Hellickson left with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh. Reliever Jake McGee bailed out the Rays starter by retiring three straight batters to end the threat.

NOTES: Leyland, this year’s AL All-Star team manager, supports the idea that all teams have a player in the contest. “You can get a lot of arguments because it’s probably not a true All-Star team when you have to have somebody from every team, but I love the fact that every uniform is represented at the All-Star game,” Leyland said. “I think that’s really a nice touch.” … Rays 3B Evan Longoria (plantar fasciitis) missed his second consecutive game. … Denny McLain, the majors’ last 30-gane winner, was at the ballpark. He did it in 1968 with the Tigers. … Cabrera went 1 for 4 and had his major league-best batting average drop two points to .373.